Newtown Park

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For the football stadium in Bo'ness, Scotland, see Newtown Park, Bo'ness.

Newtown Park
Newtown Park - athletics arena and football ground.jpg
LocationNewtown, Wellington, New Zealand
Coordinates41°19′13″S 174°46′57″E / 41.32028°S 174.78250°E / -41.32028; 174.78250Coordinates: 41°19′13″S 174°46′57″E / 41.32028°S 174.78250°E / -41.32028; 174.78250
OwnerWellington City Council
OperatorWellington City Council
Capacity5,000
SurfaceGrass field, Rekortan athletics track
Construction
Opened1881
Renovated2008
Tenants
Athletics Wellington
Kiwi Amateur Athletic Club
Wellington United

Newtown Park is a multi-purpose stadium in Wellington, New Zealand, owned and managed by Wellington City Council. [1] It is currently used mostly for football (soccer) matches in winter, and athletic events in summer. Newtown Park is the primary athletics stadium for the Wellington region.

Bookings of the venue are managed by the owner, Wellington City Council. The council grants priority to the Wellington United Football club for weekend bookings during the winter season, and priority to Athletics Wellington for weekend bookings during the summer season, and for weekdays outside of school hours.[2][3]

The main arena has a 400-metre, all-weather rubberized athletics track around it, as well as the spectator stands and the corporate lounge. A second, rectangular pitch (Newtown Park 2) is located to the south of the main arena.

History[]

Newtown Park was built in 1881 and was part of Wellington Zoo. The first match played there was an international rugby game where Wellington beat New South Wales 14–2 drawing 5,000 spectators including then Governor Sir James Prendergast. It was the main ground for Rugby in Wellington until Athletic Park was opened in 1896. Newtown Park has also been used to house New Zealand Troops before they departed for the Boer War, World War I and World War II.[4]

The #1 pitch was re-developed in 2011 to function as a training venue for teams competing in the 2011 Rugby World Cup. During the tournament, football events were relocated to other venues.

Football[]

Events at Newtown Park are organised by Wellington United during the winter football season.

The second pitch, was used by A-League franchise Wellington Phoenix for training and minor exhibition matches before they moved to Martin Luckie Park and then out to Fraser Park in Lower Hutt.[5][6]

Other football events hosted[]

Athletics[]

Newtown Park is the main venue for regional track and field meets managed by Athletics Wellington during the summer season.[9]

In January 2022, the North Island Colgate Games for children aged 7-14 were held at Newtown Park, with 1,200 athletes taking part.[10]

School athletics events held at Newtown Park include the McEvedy Shield competition, an annual athletics series between four Wellington boys schools.[11] It is also used by many other schools, and school sports associations as a place to stage in-house athletics events.[12]

The Kiwi Athletic Club has their base at Newtown Park.

Other events at Newtown Park[]

Newtown Park also occasionally serves as a community events centre for the surrounding area, and has hosted cultural events such as Carols by Candlelight.[13]

References[]

  1. ^ "Sportsground locations". Wellington City Council. Retrieved 2 September 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ Newtown Park All Weather Track Pedestrian Gate Key Requirements - April 2021 to March 2022. Wellington City Council. 2021.
  3. ^ "Newtown Park Access". Athletics Wellington. Archived from the original on 2 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  4. ^ Weber, Adriana (3 October 2013). "Newtown Park's long history". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  5. ^ "Wellington Phoenix Announce Strategic Partnership With Lower Hutt City AFC". Wellington Phoenix. 10 February 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  6. ^ Geenty, Mark (24 January 2017). "No potholes, no bumps: Wellington Phoenix boots finally touch the green grass of home". Stuff. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  7. ^ Not to be confused with Wellington Phoenix FC - Wellington Phoenix United was a team composed of some Phoenix FC players and prominent members of the Wellington football community
  8. ^ http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/77488,gao-sparks-phoenix-fundraiser.aspx
  9. ^ "Feast of Meets Scheduled for Newtown Park over next two months". Athletics Wellington. 17 December 2021. Archived from the original on 30 December 2021.
  10. ^ Hunt, Tom (9 January 2022). "Olympians of tomorrow, kids in the sun today". Stuff. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  11. ^ "Results-2020-McEvedy-Shield" (PDF). College Sport Wellington. Retrieved 2 September 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ "Regional and inter-regional events". Primary Sport Wellington. Retrieved 2 September 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ^ "Pedestrians and tram, Manners Street, Wellington". Retrieved 2 September 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

External links[]

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